Continuing Ed for Creative Endurance

Emerging new media and technology are ever-evolving factors that influence how creative professionals produce for our industry. Newer tools, methods and software are being released by the time we’ve mastered the last greatest thing to come along. How do creative’s stay ahead of the changes and still consistently produce fresh and relative content? We wanted to know about professional development for creative’s so we took a poll to get an idea. It turns out; production professionals are looking for ideas too. Read on for the full report and learn where imaginative and savvy producers go to squeeze the pulp to get their creative juices flowing.

Our poll revealed that ongoing training for producers was more often not required but encouraged by their employers. Out of 322 poll respondents, 15% of producers said that it was encouraged though not offered where they work. We were surprised to learn that 57% of producers are left to fend for their own advanced training education while 20% reported that their company does require continuing education. The remaining 8% answered that they are uncertain if their employer requires or offers continuing education. I’m sure if we asked, nearly 100% would agree that creativity needs to be supercharged with new ideas from time to time. Whether maintaining your creative endurance is required or not, advancing your creative education is a worthwhile personal investment.

The Q & A on C.E.

Q: If you have taken continuing education classes, where did you take them?

Maine Media, the #1 most popular name dropped here, offers a course catalog full of curriculum for creative professional development. They offer a year long schedule with a variety of training programs ranging from Corporate Video Scriptwriting to Location Lighting. Most classes last for 6 days and the facility offers on-campus accommodations to immerse you in the learning experience.

Lynda.com is 100% online based. Ranked 3rd most used in our survey, Lynda offers– literally– a plethora of categories and class topics including business, productivity, developing, animation, and video classes where ever you have access to computing.

We also asked “What type of training are you interested in/looking for?” and here’s what pollers told us:

#1 Technical

#2 Creative

#3 Management

There are many CE training providers worth considering for furthering your professional development. Crews Control University is the educational platform we developed for our clients and vendors. We created this resource to provide an interactive exchange where professionals can discuss video production solutions with peers and our experts in a classroom environment. Crews Control hosts classes and workshops in partnership with our vendors including professional equipment resellers, manufactures and video production solution providers. These events are free and are held in cities all across the country.

There are many online resources that provide instructor-lead software training, instructional videos, and live webinars. We selected a few worth mentioning though we do not represent or endorse these resources.

Total Training, “Software Training for Creative Minds“, offers online and DVD-based training– with a twist. For a monthly access fee, you have 24-hour, 7-day a week access to web based training modules for creative design, digital video, and office productivity software programs. Here’s a breakdown of their subscription program.

Filmmaking Webinars is a resource worth bookmarking for sure. The site offers live and on-demand webinars, videos and podcasts on digital film production by digital filmmakers. Live webinars are free or may be downloaded on demand for a nominal archive fee.

MediaBistro is another great resource for sharpening the professional skills that support your production expertise such as writing. They offer courses in 3 major metropolitan cities (New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles) as well as online classes.

Another good place to look for workshops and professional development courses are on the events section of the manufacturers and organizations you do business with. NAB, the National Association of Broadcasters, for instance, has an extensive calendar of workshops offered on location at NAB conferences and conventions.

Crews Control reports daily on the events, seminars, tradeshows, and conferences we come across as they’re announced. Stay tuned for behind the scenes updates on upcoming industry events published via twitter and our facebook fanpage.

About Andrea Keating

Andrea Keating introduced the industry to the concept of a freelance film and video staffing company in 1988. And since then, “It’s been an incredible experience made all the better by great clients, fabulously talented crews and the best team on Earth working right along with me.” At Crews Control, Andrea is constantly thinking about how to serve her clients better. That’s her number one objective. As for her other, more whimsical goals, she’d like to invent an everyday product, go to cooking school, and finally learn how to whistle.

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Since 1988, our goal is to provide the perfect crew for each job - in any city worldwide. Our local camera crews are already where you need them and ready to shoot your next project. From New York to Los Angeles, London to Lebanon, and Hong Kong to Honolulu, we have video crews in every major city around the world.